Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal snapped back at journalist saying that he has no explanation as to why he lost three tie-breaks against Dominic Thiem after crashing out of the Australian Open in the quarter-final on Wednesday.
The current World No.1’s hopes of winning a second Grand Slam title in Australia suffered a major blow when he lost 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 in an epic contest against Thiem to bow out of the tournament.
Nadal, who looked visibly disappointed after his exit was talking to the media when one of the journalists asked him if there was any reason why he had lost three tie-breaks against the Austrian.
“As the other day I don’t have any big explanation when I won two-tiebreaks against Kyrgios, today I don’t have another clear explanation why I lost three tiebreaks,” Nadal retorted back quickly to reporter’s query.
He also went on to add that it must have happened probably because Thiem had played better than him in the match. “Probably because he played better than me. Normally that’s the reason why you lose or win, that happens,” the 19-time Grand Slam winner explained.
Nadal and Thiem have met each other on several occasions and almost all the matches have been so far enthralling as the one that was witnessed at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Though the Spaniard still has a 9-5 advantage over the Austrian, the gap between the two has been reduced to four after the latter’s sensational victory yesterday.
Moreover, the younger Thiem ended Nadal’s long-standing domination over him at Slams by registering his first-ever win against the seasoned campaigner.
Their head to head margin in the Grand Slams now reads 5-1, with Nadal having won the duels in 2019 French Open (Final), 2018 US Open (Quarterfinal), 2018 French Open (Final), 2017 French Open (Semi-final) and the 2014 French Open (Round of 64) respectively in the past.
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